The 2015 Oscar nominations are here, bringing the usual mix of celebrated performances, awards-season favorites and enough debate to keep movie fans occupied until the envelopes are opened.
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and The Grand Budapest Hotel lead the field with nine nominations each. The Imitation Game follows with eight, while American Sniper and Boyhood received six nominations apiece.
The Best Picture race includes everything from a superhero actor wrestling with his legacy to a drummer wrestling with an instructor who appears to regard workplace civility as a character flaw. Meanwhile, Steve Carell, Bradley Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Keaton and Eddie Redmayne will compete for best actor.
One of the morning’s biggest surprises came from the animated feature category, where The Lego Movie was nowhere to be found. Apparently, not everything was awesome.
Here is a look at the nominees in several of the ceremony’s biggest categories.
Best Picture
American Sniper
Producers Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Producers Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole
Boyhood
Producers Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Producers Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson
The Imitation Game
Producers Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman
Selma
Producers Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner
The Theory of Everything
Producers Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten
Whiplash
Producers Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster
Actor in a Leading Role
The leading actor category includes dramatic transformations, historical figures and one washed-up superhero attempting a Broadway comeback. Steve Carell earned his first Oscar nomination for disappearing into the unsettling role of John du Pont in Foxcatcher, while Michael Keaton’s self-aware performance in Birdman placed him squarely in the awards conversation.
Steve Carell
Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper
American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch
The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Eddie Redmayne
The Theory of Everything
Actress in a Leading Role
The best actress nominees include Julianne Moore’s portrayal of a professor facing early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in Still Alice, Rosamund Pike’s chilling performance in Gone Girl and Reese Witherspoon’s solo journey through the wilderness in Wild.
Marion Cotillard
Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones
The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore
Still Alice
Rosamund Pike
Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon
Wild
Actor in a Supporting Role
J.K. Simmons earned a nomination for playing the kind of music instructor who could make a metronome nervous. He is joined by Robert Duvall, Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton and Mark Ruffalo.
Robert Duvall
The Judge
Ethan Hawke
Boyhood
Edward Norton
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Mark Ruffalo
Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons
Whiplash
Actress in a Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette’s performance as a mother whose life unfolds across the 12-year production of Boyhood earned her a nomination alongside Laura Dern, Keira Knightley, Emma Stone and Meryl Streep.
Patricia Arquette
Boyhood
Laura Dern
Wild
Keira Knightley
The Imitation Game
Emma Stone
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Meryl Streep
Into the Woods
Animated Feature Film
The animated feature category includes superheroes, dragons, underground creatures and two beautifully crafted international films. Noticeably absent is The Lego Movie, although its relentlessly cheerful anthem, “Everything Is Awesome,” did receive a nomination for original song.
Big Hero 6
Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
The Boxtrolls
Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
Song of the Sea
Tomm Moore and Paul Young
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura
The 87th Academy Awards will be held Feb. 22 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, with Neil Patrick Harris serving as host.